relations between the papacy and the Italian government and resulted in 1874 in the pope’s calling for all Catholics to boycott the political process and to refuse to take part in elections or join political parties This situation persisted until the end of World War I, when the pope revoked the earlier decree The Vatican still held tremendous power, both real and symbolic Therefore, in August 1926 Mussolini began a dialogue between state and church to reinforce his own power and from the point of view of the Vatican to preserve some of its own This dialogue was largely prompted by the establishment of the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), the Fascist youth organization, and its actions to eliminate all other youth organizations and activities within Italy, including those run by the church The church viewed these developments with alarm, since they would act to reduce its role in the formation of the character of youth Although the government officially dissolved the Catholic Boy Scout organizations in 1927, the church, as part of the larger Lateran Treaty, did secure the continuation of Catholic youth groups Under pressure from the ONB in the early 1930s, Mussolini toyed with the dissolution of these youth groups, which were increasingly seen as an alternative source of authority and indoctrination However, he chose not take this step, which would have violated the terms of the Lateran Treaty On February 11, 1929, Mussolini, on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III, and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of Pope Pius XI and the Vatican, signed the Lateran Treaty, which ended 60 years of dispute between Italy and the Vatican This document was divided into three main sections: the conciliation treaty, the financial convention, and the concordat The conciliation treaty essentially established official diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Italy and affirmed Catholicism as the “state religion.” The financial convention stipulated that the Italian state would pay the Vatican the sum of 750 million lire in cash as well as percent Consolidated Bearer Bonds of trillion lire to compensate the Holy See for the loss of lands in 1870 This payment would be made in full by June 30, 1929, and would not be subject to any tariffs or taxes The concordat gave the Vatican power over religious teaching in public schools at both the primary and secondary school levels (taught by priests); extended papal control over marriage laws and wills; reiterated the sovereignty of the Holy See over its property, its ecclesiastical members and seminarians, and its message; and preserved the organization Catholic Latin American cinema 197 Action, which was a branch of the Vatican, as the only independent organization left within Fascist Italy The Lateran Treaty as a whole provided benefits to each party For Mussolini, reconciliation with the church brought his government further internal stability, as it broadened the base of support for the state by eliminating the rift that had persisted for six decades In terms of its larger, international impact, the treaty elevated Mussolini and thereby his style of government in the eyes of the world and gave both additional legitimacy For the Vatican, its power over key societal institutions such as marriage and education were extended and reaffirmed Its terms were incorporated into the postwar constitution and remained in effect until 1985 Further reading: Cassels, Alan Fascist Italy New York: Thomas Y Crowell, 1968; Fermi, Laura Mussolini Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966; Morgan, Philip Italian Fascism, 1919–1945 New York: St Martin’s Press, 1995; Williams, Paul The Vatican Exposed, Appendix B Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003 Laura J Hilton Latin American cinema Motion pictures arrived in Latin America not long after the Lumière brothers debuted their invention in Paris in 1859 Lumière agents fanned out across the globe to sell projection equipment, cameras, and film stock wherever there was a market to support it; in Latin America, this meant chiefly the large, stable economies of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico Early filmgoers in South America invariably saw European imports; Italy had become the dominant force in the fledgling film industry by 1912 During World War I, however, American companies used the disruption of the European film industry to gain a foothold in the market, and by 1926 an estimated 95 percent of screen time in South America went to Americanmade films Local filmmakers could barely compete in this monopolized marketplace Most were restricted to newsreels and documentaries The situation was particularly bad in Mexico, which was dominated from the start by the nearby U.S film machine Promising young stars like Lupe Velez and Dolores del Rio were lured to stardom in nearby Hollywood, while American directors exploited Mexican locales (and locals) for increasingly popular westerns